robinson



Feb. ,11,' 1930. H. E. ROBINSON 1,746,318

FURNACE 0R HEATING AgrAaa'rus" 7 'Filed June 13, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1H0 WAR 0 E. Rae wsmv,

Feb. 11, 1930.. H. E. ROBINSON FURNACE LR HEATING APPARATUS File. June1s 1.928 4 Sheets-$heet 2 Feb, 11, 1930. H, ROBINSQN 1,746,318

FURNACE 0R HEATING APPARATUS Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 13. 1928 W0 AmuFeb. 11, 1930. H. E. ROBINSON FURNACE OR HEATING APPARATUS Filed June15, 1.928 4: Sheets-Sheet 4 W .lllll Patented Feb. 11, 1930 UNITEDSTATES PATENT orrlca HOWARD E. ROBINSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOBTO ROBINSON FURNACE COMPANY, OF-CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS scanner; o1. HEATING APPARATUS Application filed June is,

My invention relates to a heating apparatus of the type having a heatingunit that is surrounded by a casingor shell and the cool air isdischargedinto the shell where it 5 is heated by contact with theheating unit and arises so as to be discharged from the top of theshell. Such furnace structures are generally known as warm-air orhot-air furnaces, and it has heretofore been the prac- 1 tice tosurround the heating unit with a shell of cylindrical shape into whichthe cool air is discharged through the cold-air shoes or large box-likecompartments on the exterior of the lower portions of the shell intowhich shoes the air is led or directed by means of large supply orcold-air return pipes. These shoes and the large return feed pipes areextremely cumbersome as well as unsightly in appearance and they occupyconsiderable valuable space both alongside the furnace structure and atthe ceiling of the cellar or other place where the furnace is erected.

It is primary object of my invention to provide a structure that is neatand attractive in appearance, and is extremely compact,

while at the same time it is effective and dependable in its operation.I do this by dispensing with the aforesaid cumbersome shoes or cold-airchambers at the sides of the furnace casing and eliminate the largereturn pipes leading thereto, and in lieu thereof I have provided thefurnace with a rectangular shaped casing or housing and have divided aportion of the interior of the housing into 1928. Serial 110; 285,039.

device and air circulator I have provided means within or incommunication with the rear chamber of the housing for accelerating orincreasing the velocity of the air passing therethrough and through theportion of the structure adjacent and surrounding the heating unit.

The structure which I have devised has numerous objects in view, amongwhich are, effectiveness and dependability in its performance, readinessof operation, durability in construction, simplicity and sturdiness inthe formation and arrangement of the parts, accessibility for thepurpose of inspection and repair and the whole structure is arranged,fabricated and assembled in a novel economical manner, which permits thestructure being readily installed. It may also be erected around aheating unit that is already in use by the removal of the customarycylindrical shell.

-I-prefer to carry out my invention and to accomplish the numerousobjects thereof in substantially the manner hereinafter fully describedand as more partciularly pointed out in the claims, reference beingherein made to the accompanying drawings that form a part of thisspecification.

In the drawings Figure 1 isa perspective view of a heating apparatusmade in accordance with my invention looking at the same from the frontright-hand corner and with a portion of a side wall broken-away.

Figure 2'is a perspective view of the strucso ture shown in Figure 1looking at the rear with a portion of the near wall removed.

Figure 3 is a section on a larger scale on line 3-3 of Figure 1 at therear upper portion and looking in the direction of the ar- 5 rows.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing the formation ofaside wall and its cooperation with the upper and lower frame members.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 looking towards the rear and showingthe details of the partition and its manner of support.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view showing details of the side walls andthepartition with the supporting frame for the latter.

Figure 7 is a schematic view, the same being a vertical section takencentrally through the structure from front to rear.

Figure 8 is also a schematic view, being a section on line 8-8. of Fig.7.

The drawings are to be understood as more or less diagrammatic for thepurpose of disclosing a typical or preferred manner of carrying out myinvention, and in said drawings the same reference characters have beenused to designate like parts wherever they appear throughout the views.

The heating unit 10 is of any well-known type and includes the usual ashpit, the firepot or combustion-chamber, and the radiator,

' all ofwhich are made from metal castings,

- to the skirt, and the rear wall 15.

and the front comprises the usual vertical cast-metal panel 11 providedwith doors to permit access to the interior of the unit. A skirt orapron, in the form of a metal sheet 12, extends rearwardly from thesides of the front plate and curves around the heating unit as shown inFigures 2. 7 and 8, and the dimension of this skirt is such that itsforward edges rest upon the adjacent shouldered or shelf portion of theash-pit while its side and rear segments curve towards the side and rearportions of the outer housing or shell in the manner shown in Figure 8.The upper edge of the skirt terminates at about the horizontal plane ofthe top of the radiator. This permits the air to be heated to pass underthe skirt and move upwardly between the skirt and the heating unit whereit passes into the housing above the radiator.

The housing is of rectangular shape in cross section and consists of thevertical front walls 13 upon each side of the front plate of the heatingunit, the side walls 14 extending rearwardly therefrom and tangent Thesewalls are preferably formed from flat sheets of metal of a suitablegauge to withstand the service to which they are subjected and theyprovide, when assembled, a box-like housing that is compact and neat inappearance and has no outwardly extending portions, such as the usualshoes and conduits.

In assembling thewalls a plurality of angle-metal frames are employed.There is a ottom frame, which is to receive the lower edges of thewalls, that is a length of anglemetal 16 bent to provide the corners andwith its lateral flange extending. outwardly and resting on the floor ofthe room (Figs. 1, 4 and 5). Upon the flanges of this frame is placed aretainer which is a thin strip of metal bent to provide flanges 17correspond- ,ing with the flanges of the angle-piece 16,

with its upper portion 18 bent hook-shape to mount the same upon theupper edge of the angle-piece and with its opposite outer edge that areof a width to fit between the vertical portion 17 and upstanding flange19 of the retainer. The construction and assembly of the parts justdescribed is shown in detailin Fig. 4. The upper or top frame is anangle piece 21 of a shape corresponding with the lower angle-frameexcept that its horizontal flange projects inwardly. The top edges ofthe wall panels extend above the upper ends of the panel flanges 20where they are bent inwardly and downwardly to provide hooks 22 betweenthe flanges 20 of the panels, which hooks extend over the upper edge ofthe vertical flange of the top frame 21. The top frame '21, as seen inFigure 4, rests upon the upper ends of the panel flanges 20 and thestructure when assembled in this manner interlocked so as to preventlateral movement of the parts.

Thetop of the housing is closed by a hood 23 of frustum-pyramidal shapeand is made from sheet-metal with its edges bent downwardly in avertical plane as at 24 and then extend horizontally inwardly as at 25so that the hood may rest upon the lateral flanges of the angle frame21. The hood does not extend entirely to the rear of the housing butterminates .in a vertical plane at about the rearmost segment of theapron 12, the purpose of which will later more fully appear, and inorder to support the rear transverse portion of the hood I have providedan angle-metal cross-piece 26 the ends whereof rest upon the horizontalflange of the top frame and are secured thereto by bolts and nuts 27(Fig. 5).

Immediately back of the rearmost segment of the skirt 12 and immediatelybelow the rear edge of the hood, the interior of the housing is dividedby a transverse partition 27 a that extends downwardly from thehorizontal plane of the top frame to a point above the lower edge of thehousing walls, so the housing is thus divided into two compartments andcommunication is afforded between the compartments below the partition.The partition is of composite construction, and is formed of two spacedmetal plates 28 and 29 between which is placed cellular in-' edge of thecross piece as shown in Figs. 3

and 4.

The partition extends to and its side ends engage the inner edges of theflanges 20 of the side Wall panels so that air in the chambers cannotpass around the sides of the partition but must travel down and underthe bottom edge of the latter in the manner indicated by'the arrows inFigures 6 and 7. The means for supporting the lower portion of thepartition is in the form of a bridge made from angle-metal. Thehorizontal crosspiece or beam has its horizontal flange 32disposedtowards therear of the housing so that the loweredge of thepartition rests thereon while the vertical flange 33 projects upwardlyalongside the plate 28 of the partition which is farthest from the rearwall of the housing. At the ends of the cross-piece or beam theangle-metal is bent downwardly to provide feet or supports 34 that havea portion of the outwardly extending flange removed to provide anabutment 35 that rests upon the upper edge of the lower angle-metalframe 16,

to which it is secured by bolts and nuts 36.

The partition, as will be seen in Figures 7 and 8, is spaced a distancefrom the rear wall 15 of the housing that is suflicient to give thedesired capacity to the chamber or vertically disposed passageway 37that is thus provided entirely across the rear portion of the housing,so that the cool air led to the upper portion of'the passageway by theusual return conduits from the various apartments or rooms will have anunrestricted flow downwardly inthe passageway 37 and under the partitionwhere it reaches the larger chamber or heating compartment from whichthe air finds exit through the distributor outlets. As shown in Figs. 7and 8, a fan or blower 35 is placed in the lower portion of the returnair passageway 37 so as to increase the velocity of the air passingunder partition 27*. The manner of taking'in and distributing the air isof novel arrangement and will now be described.

Surrounding the truncated portion of the hood 23, is a rim 38 andcooperating therewith is a Siamese-like outlet box that has oppositelyarranged distributor ducts 39 that curve upwardly and laterally towardthe sides a of the housing andtheir outer ends are adapted to beconnected with distributing conduits or flues leading to registers inthe different rooms. The distributor ducts 39 meet in a somewhat V-shapeformation and they are of rectangular shape in cross-section so thatdistributor conduits of similar cross section is installed. The cool airthat is directed to the housing through the return conduits isdischarged into the rear passageway 37 through a Siamese-like feed orreturn-box that is mounted upon the flanges of the upper frame members21 and top cross-piece 26. This structure comprises concavo-convexlongitudinal walls 40 that flare outwardly from the aforesaid frame andcross piece, the rear wall 40 providing a continuation of the rear wall15 of the housing and extends beyond and overhangs the same, while theother wall 40 curves upwardly and towards the ducts 39 of thedistributor. Vertical end walls 41 having tapered side edges are securedto the ends of the walls 40 and form vertical continuations of the sidewall panels towards the rear of the housing. The return ducts 42 are ofrectangular cross section and their walls curve downwardly and towardseach other so as to meet approximately mid-way the length of the flaredwalls 40.

The major axis of the structure formed by walls 40 and 41 is parallelto, and may be in alinement with, the major horizontal axis of thereturn passageway 37 while the major axes of the oppositely disposedinlet ducts 42 aretransverse thereto. The combined capacity of saidducts is equal to the capacity of the passageway 37 and the structureformed by the walls 40 and 41.

The outer ends of the oppositely disposed ducts 42 are adapted to beconnected with return-air pipes or conduits that withdraw the cool-airfrom the rooms and return it to the housing, and by employing conduitsof rectangular cross-section they may be installed at the ceiling wherethe heating apparatus is installed thus providing considerable clearanceor head-space in the cellar and entirely dispensing with the old-stylecumbersome and unsightly return-pipes and return-shoes at the sides andbottom of the furnace housing.

The accompanying drawings and foregoing description are given forclearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations are tobe assumed therefrom, but the appended claims are to be construed asbroadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

4 What I claim is 1. A heating apparatus comprising a heating unithaving a straight front panel, a shell extending around said unit andterminating above 'thebase of the latter, a box-like rec'- tangularcasing outside said shell, said shell and said casing extending from aside edge of said panel around said unit to the opposite side edge ofsaid panel and the rear wall of the casing being spaced from the shell,a partition between therear wall of the casing and the rear segment ofthe shell and providing a separate air chamber of rectangularcrosssection within the rear of the casing,the lower edge of thepartition being in substantially the same horizontal plane as the loweredge of said shell to permit passage of air thereunder and into thespaces between the partition and shell and between the shell and theunit, said rear rectangular air chamber being open at its top and meansfor directing air into the upper open end of said rectangular airchamber. i

2. A heating apparatus comprising a heating unit having a straight frontpanel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating samehorizontal plane as the lower edge of said shell to permit passage ofair thereunder and into the spaces between the partition and shell andbetween the shell and the unit, said rear rectangular air chamber beingopen at its top, means for directing air into the upper open end of saidrectangular air chamber, and means for increasing the velocity of theair passing under said partition and shell.

3. A heating apparatus comprising, a heating unit having a straightfront panel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating abovethe base of the latter, a box-like reotangular casing outside saidshell, said shell and said casing extending from a side edge of saidpanel around said unit to the opposite side edge of said panel and therear wall of the casing being spaced from the shell, a

partition between the rear wall of the casing 4 and the rear segment ofthe shell and providing a separate air chamber of rectangular HOWARD E.ROBINSON.

cross-section within the rear of the casing, the

lower edge of the partition being in substantially the same horizontalplane as the lower edge of said shell to permit passage of airthereunder and into the spaces between the partition and shell and theunit, said rear rectangular air chamber being open at its top, means fordirecting air into the upper open end of said rectangular air chamber, aSiamese inlet structure mounted at the top of said rectangularair-chamber, and a Siamese outlet structure mounted at the top of theremaining portion of said rectan ular casing.

a. A heati g apparatus comprising a heating unit having a straight frontpanel, a shell extending around said unit and terminating about the'baseof the latter, a box-like rectangular casing outside said shell, saidshell and said casing extending from a side edge of said panel and therear wall of the casing being spaced from the shell, a partition betweenthe rear'wall of the casing and the rear segment of the shell andproviding a separate air chamber of rectangular cross-section within therear of the casing, the lower edge of thepartition being insubstantially the same horizontal plane as the lower edge of said shellto permit passage of air thereunder and into the spaces between thepartition and shell and between the shell and the unit, said rearrectangular air chamber being openat its top, means for directing airinto the upper open end of said rectangular air chamber,

